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CVT Applauds Bill Prohibiting U.S. From Barring Refugees Based on Country of Origin

Monday, November 20, 2017

ST. PAUL, Minn. and WASHINGTON—The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) applauds the No Ban on Refugees Act introduced by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), which prohibits the U.S. Government from barring refugees from entering the United States based on their country of origin.

“We wish Senator Murphy’s bill wasn’t necessary, but it is and we are proud to support it. Refugees from across the globe have survived the worst that one human can inflict upon another—the United States can and should be a safe haven for them, regardless of their country of origin.

“The debate about refugees in this country needs to spend less time on specious security and economic concerns and instead focus on facts, and the fact is that the refugee crisis is a torture crisis. We at CVT estimate that nearly half of the refugees living in the U.S are torture survivors. We urge every lawmaker, when weighing decisions about refugees, to imagine their own children, wives, sisters or brothers enduring torture and then having nowhere to go to escape from their torturers.” —Scott Roehm, director of CVT’s Washington office

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The Center for Victims of Torture is a nonprofit organization headquartered in St. Paul, MN, with offices in Atlanta, GA, and Washington, D.C.; and healing initiatives in Africa and the Middle East.